When the Rain Falls
by Topaz Varren
Summary: Unexplained disasters begin to occur, and heroes are turning up missing. Just what is the Justice League up against this time? Mainly Flash-centric.
1. Storm Clouds

**When the Rain Falls**

**Disclaimer:** JLU and all it's characters do not belong to me. I gain no monetary profit from this fanfiction.

**A/N:** This is it friends(wait, do I even **have** those? Heh heh.); my very first real attempt at a non-humorous story, as well as a multi-chaptered story. All the others before this didn't count. Yeah, you wouldn't believe how nervous I am right now. XD

Also, there are a number of major roles to go around, but this is intended to be a Flash fic at the core. Because Wally is awesome(And just why is Flash not one of the search-able characters on here?). Hopefully somebody out there will enjoy. If not, critique away! I'm a big girl, I can take it.

Cheers! (:

* * *

"Oh, come on. It's not that big a deal, is it?" 

"Look, it's nothing personal. It's just that people have been complaining..."

"Yeah, but I'm not the only one who does it. This isn't fair."

John Stewart, also known as Green Lantern, sighed as he blasted another thug in the face with his ring. "Maybe, but you happen to do it the most. By a long shot."

"Do not." The Flash shot back, whilst zipping around two more punks, tying them up with a length of chain that one of them had previously been using as a weapon. "I bet Booster Gold does it more."

"Only if you add it up between him and Blue Beetle."

"It still counts!"

"... No it doesn't."

"Touché." Flash grumbled, taking out his irritation on a goon who was attempting to sneak up on John. "Anyway, it's not as if leaving drinks at the monitor is all that bad. I mean, nobody complains when J'onn leaves cookie crumbs all over the freaking place."

"That's different. He cleans up after himself." John landed on the ground after the last of the would-be looters was knocked out.

"Hey I clean up after myself!" Wally defended, crossing his arms with a frown. Then lowered his tone to a whisper. "_Usually_."

"You're going to pay for this!" The conversation was interrupted when a loudmouth among the criminals below started screaming at them. "Every last one of you damn capes!"

"Capes?" Flash glanced to Green Lantern, then back at the guy. "Nope, don't see any of those around."

Leaving the mob bound up for the police to take away, the two heroes moved out of the jewelry store, and back to the streets of Central City. A black cat scurried away, just in time to avoid being stepped on. With an annoyed hiss, it darted off into a nearby alley.

Neither Flash nor Green Lantern paid the creature any mind as they headed down the sidewalk. They had just finished their ritual Tuesday morning breakfast a few minutes earlier, but it had been cut short when the alarm in the jewelry store – which had been right across the street – went off.

"So, you think we have to time to head back to the cafe?" John asked, glancing toward the establishment.

"I wish. But 'Wally West' has to make a stop at the lab to drop some stuff off, and I've got monitor duty at the Metro tower in five."

At that, John gave him a reproachful glance.

"Hey, don't worry. No drinks, I promise." And with that, he sped off, leaving Green Lantern staring at where the red blur vanished in the distance.

Silently, the ex-marine turned to look at the sky. A few silvery clouds rolled by, chased by one much large and darker than them. A storm was coming.

Not wanting to fly in the rain, even with his ring, John discreetly called for transport to the Watchtower.

* * *

As Flash ran, his attention was diverted to a toy store. Well, not the store itself, but rather the small boy that stood before it. His clothes were dirty, and he was rather pale and worn down. There was nobody near by that even looked like they could be his parents. Probably because nobody was nearby; people seemed to be avoiding him. 

Wally backtracked and came to a stop right next to the child. "Hey, there." He greeted with a warm smile, holding out a hand to the boy.

"Huh?" The kid gazed up at him with large, brown eyes. "H-hello." He looked away quickly, chewing on a fingernail.

"What's your name?" Wally coaxed, kneeling over to be at about eye level with the kid.

"Henri." His eyes seemed to drift back to the toy display, particularly toward a little battery powered robot. Flash got an idea.

"Be right back." The speedster seemingly vanished, then appeared four seconds later. "This what you were looking at?" He held up a boxed version of said robot, along with a case of batteries.

The boy stared at the package for a moment, then took it as it was handed to him. "I-I can keep it?" He sounded unsure.

"Of course!" Wally grinned, playfully tousling the kid's ebony hair. "Now..." He took on a more serious expression, although not overly so. "You should get yourself home." He pointed toward the darkening sky. "It's going to rain soon. Wouldn't want to catch a cold, do we?"

Henri looked down at his feet. Flash realized he wasn't wearing any shoes. "Um... can I... c-come home with you?" He looked up hopefully.

"Err... I don't think that's a good idea." The speedster rubbed the back of his head. "Wait, don't tell me you don't have a home." He wasn't surprised when Henri shook his head. The boy was clearly in poor straits, although it was still hard to imagine one so young living on their own. "Don't worry, though. I know a nice place you can stay at."

Wally turned to a nearby police car, in which two officers were currently taking a coffee break. "Yo, guys! You mind giving this kid a lift? He needs a place to stay for the night."

One of them peered out the rolled down window, then got out and approached. "Sure thing."

Henri glanced nervously at Flash, before letting the officer take his hand and lead him back to the car. After watching them drive away, the speedster zipped off, hoping he hadn't fallen too far behind schedule. He knew how Vigilante tended to get when he was forced to work overtime.

Unfortunately, the Flash found himself again set back. A loud crackle of thunder sparked overhead. He slowed down, looking up curiously as the storm stewed and rolled above him. Lightning snaked through the air, on the prowl for something to strike. And a few of them did strike; hitting trees, lightning rods, and even just the ground. The intensity in which they hit was greater than Wally had seen in a long time.

People took notice rather hastily, and most of them made for buildings, others leaped into their cars, anxious to keep away from the awful weather. It was then that rain decided to join in the fun, pouring down upon those who didn't seek shelter quickly enough.

"Should have brought an umbrella." His quip was drown out by the deluge, although at his speed, Wally had avoided getting really wet.

Another loud roar sounded out, but this one was slightly different in pitch to the thunder. And that's because it wasn't thunder; it was an explosion. The rain blotted out much of the smoke and fire, but Flash could clearly see the sheer destruction and falling debris coming from a hotel just a few blocks away.

With a frown, the speedster altered his course toward the building. Vig would have to wait a while longer.

* * *

When Batman entered the Metro tower in his usual sneaky, stick-to-the-most-shadowy-areas, sort of way, he was greeted by the sight of one apparently snoozing cowboy, and a distinct lack of a certain scarlet speedster who was supposed to be on-duty at this time. 

"Up." The cowled hero muttered to Vigilante, while not actually looking at him. His eyes were on the monitor.

"Hrmph?" On seeing Batman, Vig quickly sat up, tilting his hat away from his eyes. "If you'll excuse me; late night." He explained, while not actually looking or sounding like he'd been asleep at all.

"Where's Flash?"

"Kid hasn't shown up all noon. Reckon he's finding more ways to get outta this." It was clear that Vigilante was not at all pleased.

Batman scowled. Without saying another word, the Dark Knight spun around and stalked out. Vig stared after him for a minute, before sinking low in his seat and tipping his hat back down.

* * *

It had been almost a whole day since Flash was reported missing. Shayera was leading a search team over Central City, trying frantically to find any trace of the speedster. 

There were a number of witnesses that reported seeing him enter a collapsing building to evacuate the people inside, but he'd never come back out. An investigation of the wreckage had uncovered a humbling death toll – thirty-nine in all, and they were still searching for the cause. But Flash wasn't among the bodies, which brought the Thanagarian some relief.

Relief that was soon replaced by more worrying. There wasn't any possible way Wally would have willingly left so many people to such a fate. Something happened, and Shayera was determined to find out what it was.

She, along with Green Lantern, were scouring above the city. Batman, Blue Beetle, and Elongated Man were combing the streets and back alleys. Atom and Aztek were back at the collapsed hotel, searching for any traces that might have gone unnoticed, as well as helping with the cleanup.

Shayera frowned and turned to her left as the city limits drew close before her. Attempts to contact Wally had been met only with static, too low and garbled to make out whether there was actually somebody on the other end or not.

She took notice of Green Lantern in the distance, obviously not having any more luck than her. She knew he was torn up over this. "If only I stayed with him a few more minutes!" He had said, angered with himself. Despite all the attempts to persuade him otherwise, there was no doubt he would continue to blame himself until Wally was found.

"I think you should all meet back at the hotel. We have... a bit of a problem." Aztek's voice came over the comm. His tone sounded decidedly urgent.

This didn't bode well. Shayera turned again, this time heading back toward the hotel. She saw Lantern do the same. But then he paused as somebody else spoke up.

"Shayera and I will go. The rest of you, keep searching." It was Batman.

Within no time at all, she reached the pile of debris, which was now a bit smaller from when she last saw it. Batman was standing near Aztek, and they both looked over at her as she landed.

"What's going on? I thought we–" She started walking toward them, but Aztek held up a hand, gesturing for her to stop.

"Look." He pointed to the ground. At first she saw nothing, but after staring for a few moments, she started to notice the dust and tiny pieces of debris were shivering and vibrating ever so slightly. But only in a small, circular area. "Don't touch it." He cautioned further, a frown coming to his lips.

"What is it?" She asked, looking back at the other two.

"Some sort of teleportation device." He answered, walking around it. "When Atom tried to examine it..." Aztek didn't finish, he didn't need to. It was fairly obvious what had happened.

"Did you try contacting him?" Batman questioned coolly.

Aztek sound just a little affronted as he replied. "Yes. But it was the same as when we tried to contact Flash."

"So they both got... transported away by this thing?" Shayera wondered.

"That seems the most likely conclusion." Batman murmured.

"Wait, wait... but why those two?" She waved her hand around them, indicating that they were standing over what once was the hotel's lobby. "I can't even begin to guess how many people must have walked over this spot. Why weren't any of them teleported as well?"

"Programmed for something specific, probably." Aztek pointed out.

Batman narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Then he took off his comm and stepped back. Shayera and Aztek realized what he was about to do, and both did the same. When they were both a comfortable distance away, Batman tossed the communicator into the circle.

As it sailed into the midst of the energy, the device froze in midair, crackling and rattling around. After a few seconds, it phased away, leaving nothing visible behind. All three exchanged looks.

"Where do you think it goes?" Shayera asked after a minute.

It was the obvious question on each of their minds, but none of them yet had any answers.

Batman took out a scanner from his belt and proceeded to take various readings that Shayera couldn't even guess at. After two more minute of silence, he glanced at both of them. "I'm going to look into this. Make sure nobody goes near this; I don't care who they are." Without another word, Batman grappled his way to a nearby roof and disappeared from sight.

But neither hero would have to guard it for long. Before their eyes, the transporter radius erupted in a bright light, which faded rapidly. Shayera and Aztek looked on in surprise as the ground grew still, and the energy dissipated into nothing.

* * *

It was a grim day indeed. Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, had just about convinced himself that there was nothing left to search for, when Shayera sent word that they had found a lead. And by 'lead,' she was referring to a transporter that had been set up inside the collapsed hotel. And unfortunately, said lead had also vanished. Which cut off the more simple – if incredibly dangerous – solution to finding out where it went. 

Presently, he was making his way back over there. There was nothing and nowhere left to search that he or the others hadn't already exhausted.

Something caught his attention, however. A small boy, looking no older than ten, was curled up in an alleyway, back against a dumpster. He was pale, gaunt, and his clothes were a mess. A black cat was sitting at his side, and he was clutching a scrap of blue cloth. Tears were rolling down his face.

Blinking, Ted slowed down and stepped nearer to the child, which caused the cat to leap away and stride off somewhere out of sight. "You alright, kiddo?"

The boy looked up at him, his brown eyes large and wet. "I'm s – sorry..." He held out the cloth, and Ted realized that it was flecked with blood. "I killed them." He dropped it and buried his face in his hands.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry." He tried his best to sound soothing, whilst collecting the piece of fabric and examining it more closely. "Just tell me what happened."

The boy sniffed, lifting his head just slightly. "S – some nice men were taking me somewhere to stay for the night." He bit his lower lip and rubbed at his nose. "Then it started raining, and the car got real fast. Started screeching. And th – then there was a loud noise." The kid looked away, chest heaving with sobs. "And then everything stopped. The c – car, the men, everything. It was m – my fault."

Ted was silent a moment, piecing the tale together in his mind. It didn't take long to figure out what the kid was talking about; a car accident. There had been several of those reported, having occurred during the bad storm that had rolled through the city. "Hey, don't blame yourself. There's nothing you could have done."

The boy seemed to ponder these words. After a little while, he looked up, jet black locks of hair plastered to his forehead. It was then that Ted realized that the kid was literally drenched.

He must have been out the whole night.

"I think I n – need help." The boy finally admitted, propping himself against the dumpster and hefting up to his feet.

"Don't worry, that's what I'm here for." The boy coughed and nearly fell, but Ted caught him and held his hand so as to steady him. The kid seemed to relax, although he had a visible tremble. Probably from the cold.

"But how can you help? Nobody else could." The boy sounded more curious than fearful, although there was a trace of the latter.

"Well, that depends. Do you know where any relatives might live?"

The kid shook his head. "I d – don't got any family, sir."

"Alright, than I'll take you to some people who can help." Ted gave a solacing smile as he lead the boy by his hand toward the police station. Hopefully they weren't all too busy with the recent disaster.

* * *

The Flash awoke with a searing headache. He breathed out a groan and pressed the side of his head to one hand, massaging it gingerly. Forcing his eyes to focus, the young hero looked around the room he was currently in. 

It was a sizable space. Metallic walls, dyed a soft shade of violet, rose to a high ceiling where a fluorescent light shone down on him. The floor was carpeted with a soft, white material. It felt like a rag rug. There were no windows, and only a single door.

Wally could hear breathing from somewhere behind him. He turned slowly, and caught sight of a man laying on the floor nearby, partially propped against the wall. It didn't take the speedster long to identify him as the Atom. But how did he get there?

Shaking his head, Wally stood up and staggered toward the door. Not surprisingly, it was locked. "Psst... Ray?" Wally turned and moved over to the other man. "You alive?"

Ray stirred, but didn't immediately regain consciousness. Not until Flash had given his shoulder a firm shake, and then he only cracked his eyes open slightly. "Barely." He mumbled blearily. "My head feels like... Flash?" His eyes opened wider, and he sat up.

"At your service." Wally grinned. It was strained, though. "Head's killing you too, huh?"

Ray wasn't paying a great deal of attention. He was scanning the surrounding room, but after while he nodded. "Yeah, and I think..." His hand went to one ear, and he yanked out the JL comm. "That's better."

Wally was slightly surprised that he hadn't thought of that, but quickly did the same. After a few seconds, his headache began to subside. "Huh."

"Where ever we are, something must be messing with these." Ray fingered the communicator. "I guess that's why we couldn't contact you."

"How long was I gone?" Wally still hadn't figured out exactly what had happened to him. The last thing he remembered, there was a explosion and he ran to it, and then nothing. "What happened to the hotel? The people..."

"About a day." Ray looked down, fiddling a little more intently with the comm. "Some of them made it out..." It wasn't a very reassuring thing to say.

Wally seemed to read him rather well. He stood up and pounded a boot against the wall. "Damn it. I should've – should've..."

"Should have _what_?" Ray shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't abandon them. You couldn't possibly have known this," he gestured a hand around the room, "would happen."

Flash didn't absorb those words very well. Instead, he angrily spun toward the door. He directed his first into it, slamming as hard as he could. "I don't know who you are, or what sick joke you're trying to play!" Wally yelled out, hoping that somebody was on the other side to hear him. "But you better get in here and show yourself, or we're coming out there!"

"That... wasn't very threatening." Ray pointed out, climbing to his feet.

"Hey, I don't see you coming up with anything."

"I already have." Ray moved over and stood next to Flash. "I'll just go under the door, and open it from the other side." It really was a simple enough plan, perhaps even _too_ simple. Without wasting anymore time, the Atom began to activate his power.

It was only seconds later that his screams would echo throughout the room.

* * *

**End-Of-Chapter Notes:** What have I done? D: And if you think this is bad, things are going to hit the fan next chapter. So stay tuned... or not, up to you. 


	2. The Raven

**Disclaimer:** JLU doesn't belong to me. If it did, Flash would be the star, Blue & Gold would exist, and Vig and Shining Knight would get to go on more adventures together. And then there'd be many happy fun times.

**Author Notes:** I'm on a roll. Nobody can stop me now! Unless they have truffles to bribe me with.

_And..._

**Trickster91 –** Ah, another Vig fan, I take it? Well, he's not in this chapter, but you can count on seeing him later on. I've got some good scenes planned for him. Also, the boy's role in all this will become clear in time. Whether you're on to something or not... well, I can't confirm or deny. ;)

**fluffyinmypocket****–** Well, crap. And that's even one of my biggest pet peeve misspellings. XD Thanks so much for pointing that out, now I don't have to discover it five weeks down the line and hang myself in shame. That said, a ritualized breakfast of sadness with GL and Flash... I would love to see that.

To everyone else; thanks for the reviews. They make me happy! And, as always, critiques are always welcomed.

:D

* * *

It took several minutes of thrashing around, coupled with pained gasps before Ray finally regained his senses. Breathing in short, unsteady gulps, he focused his vision enough to see that he was now on his back, although he couldn't recall ever falling. Flash was knelt down, trying his best to restrain him. Ray gave him a nod to confirm that he was fine, more or less. 

"You alright?" Wally asked, letting Ray go. Although his face was covered with a mask, it was nonetheless clear that the younger hero was concerned.

Ray remained laying for a little while longer, before reluctantly pushing himself up. His muscles were sore, and he felt overwhelmingly tired. "Not entirely, but I think I'll be okay. What happened?"

"You tell me." Flash shrugged. "One minute you were about to go all tiny and stuff, then you just started screaming. I thought maybe your belt was messed up, like the comms..." He rubbed the back of his head, looking abashed and unsure of himself. "So I, uh, kinda took it off." He held it up and then handed it back. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Well, thanks. I guess." Ray examined the belt more closely. It didn't look broken, however it had just acted broken. Or something had stopped it from working. In either case, that effectively threw his escape plan out the window.

Flash stood up and returned to the door. It was metal, just like the walls, and almost comical in its similarity to those sliding doors one would see in a cartoon; giant rivets and all. But he wasn't here to appreciate the design.

"Hey! Mr. Evil Kidnapper Guy!" He had resumed his assault on the door, much to Ray's displeasure. "Ya gotta come in here some time! We need to, you know, eat and stuff!"

Ray pushed himself over to a corner, trying his best to block out Wally's irritated rantings. It wasn't easy to ignore the Flash, however. But maybe that was the point.

* * *

Three days had gone by since Flash had turned up missing, and two since Ray was spirited away by what seemed to be the same means. And now... now the search had been brought to a halt. 

"Red Tornado, Steel, and Booster Gold. I'm sending you down to Norwalk." Mr. Terrific ordered as yet another alert cropped up. The team assembled quickly. Everybody had been on edge lately, ready for action on short notice. "We've got multiple fires spreading fast, and they're having difficulty containing them. Stopping the fire, and getting civilians to safety are your primary objectives."

Once each one nodded in acknowledgment of these orders, they were sent down right away.

Mr. Terrific looked back at the monitors. Superman was helping with a clean up in Metropolis, the aftermath of a series of explosions that had swept through the city, not unlike the one in Central City. So far, no traces of bombs or any other explosive were found.

And similar acts of destruction were happening all over the United States. Fires, explosions, the release of harmful chemicals into the air. They were clearly not of nature, but whoever was orchestrating these attacks continued to elude them.

Mr. Terrific sighed as another series of explosions began to tear through Chicago. "Ray, Dove, Ice?"

He sincerely hoped the investigation into this was going well. For everyone's sake.

* * *

A avian figure strode along the top of a building, looking out over the vast city of Chicago. It stopped to groom at its sable plumage, paying no heed as a bank, just a few blocks away, ruptured with a burst of flame and smoke. People shouted and scrambled out into the night, and a blue and white blur rushed in to help them. 

The raven paused and looked down, dark eyes fixing themselves on this blur. To one who could perceive it quick enough, it became clear as nothing more than a young man traveling at a moderately exceptional speed.

Clicking its beak, the bird moved to the other side of the roof. A woman, clothed in a costume of the same color, had created a slide out of ice, which was allowing the people on the higher stories of a weakening office building to escape.

Finally, a man in gold and black had knocked away falling debris from fleeing civilians. Afterwards, he headed into another building that was starting to collapse.

The bird flicked its tail and ascended from the roof, trailing above the throngs of people as they tried to get away from the destruction. More precisely, it followed after one particular member of the crowd; a small boy with jet black hair.

* * *

Don Hall was sure he had gotten everybody out of the bank. It hadn't been very big, after all. But as he was moving off to rejoin the rest of his team, the sounds of screaming caught his ear. Somebody was still trapped. 

Returning to the caving building, Dove ignored the blazing tendrils that lashed out at him. He followed the voice to where a young woman had been trapped by fallen wood and plaster. He nearly tripped on something along the way.

"Help!" She begged as the rubble that held her caught aflame. "Please!"

"I'll get you out of here, just stay calm." He told her softly, carefully moving the weight off of her until she managed to pull herself free of her own power. Then Don helped her up and slowly carried her out.

Out of the corner of his eye, almost under foot, he took notice of a small, shimmering dome. It looked like part of some machine, although heavily damaged. Sort of like the leftover shell of an explosive, and that's probably what it was. But there wasn't any time to examine it.

He brought her out to where most of the people had gathered in the middle of the streets, awaiting medical help or other such relief.

He barely had time to ask if she was okay before another thunderous blast shook the air.

There would be no rest for any of them that night, not for many hours.

* * *

The morning sun returned to the very picture of devastation. Dozens of structures now lay in shambles. It was indiscriminate ruination; everything from housing to all walks of businesses had been targeted. Just as with all the other attacks. 

Only this time, a clue had been left behind.

"Right here." Dove declared as he dug through the remains of the bank.

Batman watched patiently as the young hero removed the charred remains of some kind of shell. It was dome shaped, but otherwise featureless. He took it from Don and turned it over multiple times.

"I almost stepped on it going out." Don relayed to the Dark Knight, hoping something of his story would be of help. He thought back to the moment when he'd nearly fell while going in for the trapped woman. "And I think I might have kicked on the way in, so this may not have been the exact spot it was originally in."

Batman nodded. "Finish with clean up." He ordered curtly, then took off in his usual, abrupt manner.

* * *

Neither Flash nor the Atom could remember how long it had been since they were locked away. Days, most likely. 

Ray could still feel some ghost pains from his attempted break out, but all his worry was now on Wally. Their captor hadn't shown themselves thus far, and that meant they had gone this long without food or water. With his high metabolism, Flash was fairing worse by far.

The speedster was sitting in the corner nearest the door. He hadn't spoken in quite a while, and even though that meant peace from his constant attempts to get somebody's attention, it honestly scared Ray. He also wondered if this had been the plan; to trap them here and then starve them to death.

In the midst of his pondering, Ray almost missed when the door began to slide open. A short, lithe silhouette stood in the entranceway, looking around wordlessly.

Flash was on his feet in an instant, although he quickly had to steady himself against a wall. "About time!" Wally snapped. He looked like he was ready to attack the stranger and make a run for it, but his strength had dissipated, and all he could muster was a trembling fist.

"You're unwell." There was a slight hum as the figure stepped through what looked like a force field, and into the light of the room. It was an elderly woman, or at least looked as such. Her hair was pale brown and her eyes were a dark shade of green. She was looking Wally over.

"Of course I'm not well." Flash stammered out, after getting over the surprise at her appearance. "I haven't eaten since... whenever we got stuffed in this place." He had an eye on the open door way behind her, and it was a given what he was contemplating.

"I see. I'll try to find something to feed you." She smiled warmly. The woman didn't need to follow Flash's line of sight to know what he was thinking about. "And please don't try to escape, you won't get anywhere. The defenses around here are horribly painful, sometimes lethal."

There didn't seem to be any reason to believe she was lying, especially after the demonstration they received the last time they tried to get out.

"Oh, and one more thing." The woman placed a small device on the floor. It had a single button on it. "If you need anything, just press this and I will come. The master would not like me doing this, but I do not revel in needless cruelty. I believe you deserve at least some comforts."

She disappeared again, and the door slid shut behind her.

"That was... weird." Wally observed, then promptly sat down again and leaned back tiredly. "I wonder where everyone is. This is supposed to be the part where Wonder Woman breaks down the door and comes to my – our rescue."

Ray smiled slightly. "Give them time. They're probably still out looking for us."

"You're right." Wally tapped a finger against the soft floor. "I wish there was a way to get a message out to them."

After a moment's thought, Ray moved over to the calling device the woman had left. "There just might be a way..."

Flash frowned skeptically. "Ray, last time you had an idea, you damn near killed yourself."

"No, this different." Ray examined the small machine carefully. "Our communicators don't work, but this supposedly does. There must be some way that it's built that prevents it from being disrupted. If I can find out why, maybe I can get a signal out."

Wally looked decidedly lost, but it did sound like it could work. "Yeah, but how are you going to do all that? We kinda don't have any tools."

"Sure we do."

It took Flash a bit to discern that Ray was staring at the side of his head, and just a little longer to figure out why. Wally lifted a hand to touch the lightning bolt on the side of his mask and groaned. "Oh, come on._ Ray._"

* * *

In a small, featureless room, two bodies stood before one another. It was too dark, and the shadows obscured everything about their features. 

"Your plan is proceeding well, boss." The shorter one spoke. His voice was raspy and very deep. There was a lapse of silence before he continued. "For the most part, anyway. Snags have been hit."

"Snags? Alright, please go on." The second spoke with a faint Irish accent, and was easily much younger.

"There was a accident with the trap. We caught an extra; he was poking around too much, it seems."

"Hmm. But we have the Flash, correct?"

"Of course. That was the easy part."

The taller one held back a chuckle. "If our unintended guest makes himself into trouble, you may put him down. Anything else, therewith?"

"Yes. We failed to eliminate our target, due to a technical error." There was an impatient shift in the shorter one's position. "If I may sir, I know I could do a much better–"

"No. That's not how we're going to play this story out." The 'boss' reached out and perched his hand on the other's shoulder. "Your time will come, Dar. I promise that much. But for now, just make certain the assassination transpires per my instruction."

"I'll see that it does, boss. We will succeed this time, you have my word."

"And you have my faith. Carry on."

* * *

For once, things were peaceful. Comparatively speaking, at least. No longer were there disaster alerts springing up every five minutes, and for once, the majority of the League didn't have a whole lot to do. 

Batman was not among them. Holed up in his cave, glued to the computer, the Dark Knight was hard at work.

There wasn't much left of the bomb casing Dove had found, although Bruce was amazed to discover that a number of the vital internal workings were still intact. And to the uneducated, it might just seem like the explosive and never gone off.

But to Batman, it didn't only _seem_ to be a fact. It was inarguably one. It was with this knowledge that Bruce put together a scenario of what could have happened that night.

A bomb had gone off within the bank, that much he was aware. But the one he had in his possession was not the same. If the theory was correct, it had been moved in after the initial explosion. The materials used to create the bomb were frail, easily destroyed by heat. This was doubtlessly intended so that it would utterly disintegrate, leaving behind no evidence.

This bomb, however, had failed to go off for whatever reason. And so it had only been so badly damaged by the fire.

The question now was why. Why plant the second bomb? What was the rationale behind such a thing, when one was more than enough to bring the structure down?

Bruce leaned forward, clasping his hands together and pressing his chin against them. He stayed like this, unmoving, for what might seem to a casual observer as quite a long time. But unexpectedly Batman snapped back, eyes opened wide.

"Batman to Watchtower."

* * *

**End-Of-Chapter Notes:** Dun dun dun! Aw, okay. Who am I kidding? I'm sure ya'll figured it out. But if not... um, suspenseful cliffhanger in the face! 

::bounces away::


	3. Proposal

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own JLU, damn it. I'm not making any profit from this work, because seriously, who would pay for this crap? O:

**A/N:** I am so, so, so, so very sorry for the delay with this chapter, especially after one and two were released so soon apart. Real life has been sucking badly.

Anyway, hopefully this chapter answers a few questions, although it may end up creating more. We'll just see how well I'm pulling this all off.

_P.S. Curse you, Trickster91. You are tempting me to write a parody when this is all done. XD_

* * *

Flash had his chin planted in his palm, his elbow planted on his knee, and his eyes planted on the proud piece of his costume that he'd sacrificed for the greater good. 

Ray, in his defense, had found a remarkably broad variety of uses for the broken lightning bolt. He'd managed to disassemble and pry the cover off the little device, to poke through the miniature forest of circuitry, and did the same thing with his comm. Now he was attempting to transplant some of the parts from the former into the latter.

Wally honestly had very little grasp of what the Atom was actually _doing_, and he didn't want to break the professor's concentration to ask. Since they needed it to get out of this mess, and all that.

A short while ago, the lady had returned with a few sandwiches. And they had barely satiated the speedster at all. Ray, on the other hand, hadn't touched his at all. Technically it wasn't 'his' anyway. The woman had seemed only interested in giving Wally the food, disregarding Ray entirely.

But even on a more normal metabolism, Ray needed to eat. Yet he didn't. Go figure.

Flash was still reflecting on this, when the door decided to open again. Ray quickly put the various pieces of electronics on the floor and pushed him into the corner, more or less out of sight.

Emerging from the opening was the woman from before. But she wasn't alone this time; a somewhat taller, and much more bulky man was standing behind her.

"Flash, if you'll please come with us." The woman requested, motioning toward the door.

Both heroes stood at once.

"Where?" Wally questioned warily.

"The boss has questions for you." The man spoke now, pushing his way in. "We can do this the simple way, which is best for you; or we can do it the difficult way, which I'm really looking forward to."

"Fine." Flash resigned. It would give him a chance to find out what their captor's deal was, if nothing else. Perhaps he could find some escape plan along the way. "But what about him?" He pointed toward Ray.

The bulky man snorted, waving a hand dismissively. The woman was more willing to answer. "Unless he causes trouble, your friend should be perfectly fine." She put on a reassuring smile, which would have meant more if she had not just started her sentence with an implied threat.

"Are you sure you want to go along with these guys?" Ray asked him, brows knitting in concern.

"I'll be fine." Wally didn't know that for sure, but it felt like the right thing to say.

* * *

Six of the original seven heroes sat at the conference table. Although he rarely attended these meetings any longer, J'onn had come after learning of all that had been happening. Flash's chair was empty, a stinging reminder of how this had all started. 

It was Batman who had called this meeting, although he had been the last one to show. When he finally did, nobody had been particularly up to calling him on it.

"So, what did you find?" Superman inquired the moment Bruce had sat down.

"A lot." Batman responded. "I'll start with the bomb."

"The one Dove found?"

The Dark Knight nodded. "It turns out that it never went off, and it was set there after the first explosion occurred."

A show of perplexity, varying widely in caliber, passed over each of the other Leaguer's faces.

"Why?" Shayera asked the question for the rest of them.

"I had Dove go over the whole story on his evacuation of the bank." Batman went on. "According to him, he had gotten everyone out, or so he believed. It appeared that he had overlooked somebody, and had to re-enter the building. That's when he noticed the second bomb." Bruce looked around to check if they were following him.

J'onn looked down at the table for a moment, before speaking up. "So you're suggesting that somebody planted the bomb after he left the first time, but before he went back in?"

"That's precisely what I'm 'suggesting.'"

"But why didn't it go off?"

"The first explosion had caused a massive fire, and due to its fragile construction, it was presumably damaged by the heat. Enough to prevent detonation."

"Wait." Wonder Woman leaned forward slightly. "Do you think somebody was trying to kill Dove?"

Batman's expression was grim. He did not respond, not verbally. But it didn't take a mind reader to know what he was getting at.

"But why?" Diana rapped a finger against the table. "What reason would somebody have for killing _Don?_"

"Revenge for something?" Green Lantern suggested, lifting a brow. "Or to get to us."

If Batman had any answers for that, they were not forthcoming.

Diana sighed. "Has he been told any of this?"

"Not yet."

The Amazon frowned.

"What else have you found?" Superman broke in, trying to snap the tension.

"Remember that teleportation field in Central City?"

Everybody nodded. In particular, John sat up, listening even more intently now.

"I found an energy residue on the bomb that closely matched readings I took from that field."

"So the bomb was teleported in?" Shayera growled at the idea of such cowardly methods.

"What better way to plant a bomb is there? You don't have to worry about getting caught, and you can send it right where it'll do the most damage." John commented somberly. "But doesn't this also mean that whoever is sending these bombs out... is also responsible for abducting Flash and the Atom?"

Silence hung over them all as this troubling realization seeped into their minds.

"Any idea yet on where these portals are coming from?" John wondered.

Batman stared off into space. "Nothing." Nobody's perfect, not even the Dark Knight. "Yet." He would, of course, have to rectify that.

* * *

Sometime during the walk from the holding cell, the bulky man had bound Flash's arms using a pair of cuffs. They hummed with some sort of energy, though he had no idea what they were supposed to do outside of the most obvious function. 

They moved for some time, down a long corridor. It had a cold, mechanical appearance to it. The walls and floor were painted white, and the lights shined down from above with a merciless intensity. They passed by dozens of identical doors, just like the one he'd come out of. Flash had heard pounding on one of them, accompanied by howls that did not sound like they came from any being of nature. But neither of his escorts paid it any mind, as if they were used to it.

Who_were_ these people?

Eventually they came to a door that was much more normal in its appearance. The woman stepped ahead and opened it, then scuttled inside. Flash felt a shove from behind, and with a grumble, followed in after her.

He now found himself in what could only be an office. The hard, metal floor was interrupted by a deep, indigo carpeting. A small desk sat in the corner, but it was very spartan; the only items that could be seen were a notebook, a few sheets of paper, and a blue mug of what smelled like white hot chocolate.

More interestingly, a large window was built into the far wall. Outside was a wide open field, with a mountain range visible in the distance.

And finally, sitting on a chair, looking down over the papers, was a young but tall man. When the woman cleared her throat, the young man's head snapped up. He pulled a pair of narrow glasses from his shirt pocket and put them on, adjusting them with care before smiling. "Hello, Mr. West. I'm quite pleased to finally meet you." He spoke with a faint Irish accent.

The woman and bulky man shuffled out the door, clicking it shut behind him. Flash stared at the young man, making no effort to return the guy's friendly attitude. He was too stunned, anyway. "How do you know my name?"

The man stood up, folding his hands behind his back and walking closer to Flash. "I know all sorts of things about you." He circled Wally once, receiving less-than-amiable glares in the process. "My name is Rindon Fen, and I have a proposal for you."

"Wait, so you dragged me here, left me in a breathtakingly dull room for days on end, so I had nothing to do but think of all the people who died because of it... all so you could ask me a question?" Flash growled.

Rindon chuckled. "Indeed. I _do _have a woeful love of the dramatic." He turned to glance at one of his papers. "But enough with that. Let's discuss you. Or more expressly, your powers. They've been a point of a fascination to me for some time now."

"Okay, I get it. So you're a fan." Flash rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fast, blah blah blah. Now _what do you want_?"

Rindon sat back down, taking a sip of his drink, smiling when he caught a longing expression on the speedster's face. "Oh, my proposal. Yes." He shifted his glasses up. "Have you ever thought on the finer qualities of your powers?"

Flash stared mutely for a minute. "What are you talking about, my speed? So what?"

The man folded his hands and rested them on the desk. "Do you remember a most intriguing event that happened... oh, some years back?" Rindon started flicking through his notebook. "What was his name... Luthor?"

"What about him?" Wally was still trying to figure out where Rindon was going with this line of questioning.

"Are you failing to pay attention? I said we were discussing you." Rindon fingered the mug. "Or have you forgotten the moment when you returned from death?"

"Say what?" Flash narrowed his eyes. "You mean when I left the speed f... hey, how do you know about that, anyway?"

"Does it matter?" Rindon stood up again and walked over to the window. "According to my informant, you... 'were pulled from a vortex of light.' How accurate would that statement happen to be?"

"What the hell does it matter?" This talk of his powers and coming back to life was tying an cold knot in Wally's gut. This man was up to something. Well, an idiot could tell that. But Rindon was after something, and Flash was just starting to guess at what it was. "I can barely remember, anyway. So if you were hoping I could help you with anything concerning that, then you're a bit outta luck."

"You haven't even heard my full proposal yet." Rindon watched Flash through the reflection on the glass. "What would you say to demonstrating your miraculous feat a second time? There are countless benefits to reap from my research of it. Just think about all you would help to accomplish."

Wally snorted. There was no doubt in his mind that this guy had something terrible in mind, and Flash was most certainly not going to risk his own _life _for it. "I'll pass."

"Don't be so convinced of that." Rindon walked toward the door. "I wasn't expecting you would wish to cooperate, although you can't say I wasn't civil enough to give it a try." He opened the door, revealing that neither the bulky man or the woman had left. "Take him back to his room. Bring him water, or anything else he wants, just make sure he's comfortable. Afterwards, we have preparations to make."

Bewildered, Flash allowed himself to be lead back, while his mind raced. Something wasn't boding well here.

* * *

Rindon Fen returned to his drink, and jotted down some notes. Some minutes later, his two aides returned. 

"We should begin quickly. There are going to uninvited guests rather soon." The woman warned, walking over and half sitting on the desk.

"You are correct, Bri. As if that's any surprise." Rindon replied to her. He stood up, striding toward the door. "Dar, see to things here for now. And I want you to brew up another... 'storm.' Give us some breathing room."

Dar nodded, happily taking the seat and resting his boots on the table. Bri gave him a disgusted look, but she said nothing, only headed out after Fen.

As the two of them walked, she casually entered into conversation. "Do you really think this is going to work?"

"With luck. I would hate to think I want through all this trouble for nothing..." Fen grinned.

Bri shook her head, although a smile did draw at her lips. "Okay, please be serious, if only for a minute?" She stared straight ahead, wrinkles of concern stretching along her face. "What if this doesn't work? He could die, you know. So could you."

He slowed down, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It will. But even if it doesn't, I guarantee his death would set off a most beautiful chain of events. As for me? Bri, you know I wouldn't die. Too much left to do, and all that."

Bri looked down, biting her tongue. "Better be right. Because if anything bad happens, so help me, I'll..."

"You'll what, kill me?"

It was Bri's turn to grin. "Exactly."

* * *

"Find anything out?" Ray asked without looking up. 

Wally was pacing back and forth along the length of the room. "Other than the guy is flaky enough to count as a breakfast cereal? Not a lot. He kept talking about my powers, and that time I came back from the speed force. He said he wanted me to 'demonstrate' it, or... something."

"Hm." Ray nodded his head, sounding like he was only half pay attention. "He's definitely up to something."

Flash sighed and came to a stop, leaning a shoulder against the wall and staring thoughtfully at the floor. "Yeah, aren't they all?"

"Got it!" Ray held up the comm with a triumphant grin.

Flash looked up, eyes widening hopefully. "You managed to patch it up?"

The grin lessened. "I think so." He tapped it carefully. "I don't know how well it'll go through, but I believe anybody within range will be able to get a message. We should keep it short, however. No telling how soon our abductors will take notice."

Flash rubbed his forehead anxiously. "Well, that's fine. We should get it over with. I don't know how long until Nutso out there is going to do... whatever it is he's planning."

"Did you see any sign of where we are? Anything that could help them locate us?"

Wally tapped his chin. "Well, there was a window in the guys office. But all I could see was a field and some mountains." He rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah, and the ring leader in all this. His name's Rindon Fen."

"Never heard of him." Ray commented. "But if he exists, I wouldn't doubt that Batman can track him down."

"Okay, then. What do –"

"It's time." Came the deep voice that Wally was growing sick of. The speedster turned toward the bulky man, who was standing in the door. "Now get over here, the boss doesn't like waiting."

Flash glanced at Ray. 'Hurry,' he mouthed, just as the bulky guy fitted him with the cuffs once again and yanked him toward the door.

* * *

It was the proverbial calm both after, and before, the storm, although it barely felt as such. After the string of calamities that had taken place days ago, the League had tried to settle down. It wasn't easy. The general air on both the Watchtower, and earth, was that of worry. Worry over the cause behind all this, as well as for their two missing members, and the recently spread rumor that one of their own was on somebody's hit list... 

But things would not be still for long.

Ted Kord was pulling monitor duty in the Metro tower when it happened. The Blue Beetle had been agonizing over a rough blueprint he'd managed to obtain of the bomb Batman had recovered, and since then, it had eaten away at all his free time.

He knew what this was. Or, at least, he thought he knew. It looked so familiar some how, yet he couldn't place his finger on how or why.

His concentration was shattered when the alarm sounded. Behind his goggles, Ted's eyes widened. About half a dozen fires were roaring through six different cities or towns. There were several heroes already in the Metro tower, and those who weren't already, jumped to their feet in an instant.

"What's happening?" The question came from Ice as she appeared over his shoulder, suddenly glued to the images of devastation anew as they flashed over the screen.

"We've got a problem." Ted called up to the Watchtower.

"I already know." Mr. Terrific answered over the comm. "Sending teams down now."

And right after, another series of alarms went off.

"Ice, you down there? I'm sending you over to L.A."

The woman headed to the teleporter without protest, although within moments, a number of the other heroes found themselves being called to join her, or any of the other forming relief teams.

As the number of fires multiplied, Ted quickly found himself very alone. But he wouldn't be for very long.

"Blue Beetle, I'm sending you and Vigilante to Manhattan. There's been a prison break, and there are riots everywhere. You need to restore order before it gets out of hand."

Ted Kord shot a look to the monitor in front of him, which was cycling through the various 'high alert' areas, before hurrying to one of the teleporter pads. Fires and explosions everywhere, and he was stuck doing clean up work. Still, not the _worst_ prospect in the world, all things considered.

As the Blue Beetle felt the familiar prickling of the transportation, but it was soon accompanied by a strange whine. It was as if somebody, or something, was trying to interrupt the process. Ted had only moments to think on this, before the world blackened out before him.

* * *

**End-Of-Chapter Notes:** I just keep throwing crap at these guys, don't I? Hey, nobody ever said I _couldn't_. Also, for my fellow BB and/or Vig fans, there's going to be a sizable role for those guys in the next chapter(totally random team-ups for the win!). And for those wondering about the kid and his connections to things... chapter four is going to show more about him, too. Among other things. And Wally! Stay tuned if you want to found out what becomes of our much loved speedster! 


End file.
